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Nicole Cleland Earns Girls Living STEM Award

By News, School Improvement Services

The STEM Learning Ecosystems Initiative is thrilled to announce it has awarded Nicole Cleland with the 2019 Girls Living STEM Award. The award recognizes girls and young women who demonstrate leadership and mentoring to inspire their community’s interest in STEM and solve real-world problems.

Ms. Cleland is a member of Southern Oregon’s Chief Science Officer Program. She founded Beyond the Bell, a monthly after-school program that offers Klamath Basin elementary students an opportunity to engage in hands-on activities that incorporate science, technology, engineering, and math.

The STEM Learning Ecosystems and the Southern Oregon Education Service District wish Nicole congratulations on her tremendous efforts to advance STEM in her community. Her passion, accomplishments, and future excite us!

SOESD Kicks off School Year with Southern Oregon Regular Attender Network for Improvement Event

By Attendance, Homepage, News, School Improvement Services, School-Wide Improvement

Southern Oregon Education Service District (SOESD) kicked off the school year on Sept. 17, 2019 by hosting over 125 educators, staff and administrators from 12 districts across several counties. Attendees included staff from Attendance and 9th grade On Track Teams, ODEā€™s Every Day Matters Staff and Regional Capacity Builders.

The vision of the event was to build districtsā€™ capacity to create environments within their schools in which all students feel more safe, know they matter and they belong, in order to inspire more students to come to school more often. To achieve this vision SOESD focuses on building capacity by leveraging research and experienced-based practices in data, teaming and communication.

The event also introduced The Center for High School Success (CHSS)ā€”a project of Stand for Childrenā€”providing FREE training, technical assistance, data support, and resources to districts and high schools interested in developing effective 9th grade success programs as a key lever for increasing on-time graduation rates.

The Every Day Matters campaign was also discussed. This program is designed to assist districts with materials and messaging they can use to increase attendance.

The group took a deep dive into the local data and addressing barriers to attendance.Ā  SOESD has developed a toolkit for district use that can be found here.

For more information from the Oregon Department of Education, click here.

 

Big turnout at Southern Oregon Careers Trade Expo

By News, School Improvement Services

On Sept. 26, 2019 nearly 2000 students gathered at Seven Featherā€™s Convention Center in Canyonville for the Southern Oregon Careers Trade Expo. This event, for which SOESD is the fiscal agent, is organized to introduce high school juniors and seniors, veterans, currently serving Military Personnel, and referred public and private agencies to exciting opportunities in many arenas. Some of these include aviation and rail, archaeology, construction trades, wildlandfire fighting, mechanics and more.

ā€œI had no idea what sparked my interest, but being here made me realize that there are a lot more options than what it seems out there,”Ā Ā  said Mary Burnett, a 12th grader.

SOESD attended the event to hand out t-shirts to students (pictured) and witness the activities in action.

For more information visit http://www.empowerthepossible.org/

Graduation Motivation in Klamath County

By News, School Improvement Services

About 700 seniors gathered this September for an annual event organized by Klamath Promise and the Herald & News. Students learned about the many opportunities open to them post-graduation. Singer, motivational speaker and author Jessie Funk spoke, sang and joked with the students from all over Klamath County. Funk told personal stories to motivate students to rise above the challenges they face in school and beyond. The event, designed to encourage high school seniors to ā€œfinish strongā€, is an annual crowd pleaser and a great way to kick off the school year for the class of 2020.

Klamath Promise is a Regional Achievement Collaborative supported by SOESD and is dedicated to bringing together education, business, and community partners to ensure all students complete high school. For more information about Klamath Promise visit https://www.soesd.k12.or.us/klamath-promise/

Nominations Open for Oregon’s Teacher of the Year

By News, School Improvement Services, School-Wide Improvement

The Oregon Department of Education, in partnership with the Oregon Lottery, is pleased to announce that the Oregon Teacher of the Year program is again honoring exemplary educators in every region of the state!

  • Nominations are open statewide through January 31, 2020.
  • Teachers will submit their applications by March 27, 2020.
  • Oregon Education Service Districts will select a winner from their region.
  • Regional Teachers of the Year will be honored across the state in May 2020!
  • One of the Regional Teachers of the Year will be named the 2021 Oregon Teacher of the Year in September 2020!

Regional Teachers of the Year will receive a cash prize of $500 and will be celebrated across the state.Ā  The 2021 Oregon Teacher of the Year will receive a $5,000 cash prize (with a matching $5,000 going to their school!) and serve as a spokesperson and representative for all Oregon teachers.

Anyone can nominate a teacher! Please nominate your favorite teacher today at oregonteacheroftheyear.org. This teacher just may be selected as the Regional Teacher of the Year and be in the running for the honor of 2021 Oregon Teacher of the Year!

Feature-length documentary film viewing: No Small Matter

By News, Uncategorized

Community members and partners are invited to attend feature-length documentary film viewing,Ā  No Small Matter on October 30th, 2019.

No Small MatterĀ is a feature-length documentary film and national engagement campaign that brings public attention to this vital question by sharing powerful stories and stunning truths about the human capacity for early intelligence and the potential for quality early care and education to benefit Americaā€™s social and economic future. This multifaceted project reveals how our country is raising its youngest citizens, why making the most of this time in their lives is so crucial, and most importantly, what we can do to change the perception of when learning begins. Ā The first major theatrical documentary to tackle this topic, No Small Matter is designed to kick-start the public conversation about early care and education. The ultimate goal: to produce an entertaining, accessible, and inspiring film that redefines the audienceā€™s understanding of the issue and helps drive it to the top of the political agenda. Or, as one advocate put it, ā€œnot just to make a documentary about early childhood education, but to makeĀ the documentary about early childhood education.

Seating is limited.

RSVP to Attend

September 2019: Update regarding Jackson County PDHH Resource Classrooms

By Deaf and Hard of Hearing, News, Special Education

In May, 2019 Medford School District announced plans to have their students currently attending the SOESD PDHH classrooms hosted in Central Point School District (CPSD) instead be served by the SOESD PDHH program in resource classrooms located in Medford schools during the 2020-21 school year.

Medford School District (MSD) has now informed SOESD that MSD no longer intends to move forward with these plans, but has determined that students should remain in the SOESD PDHH program located in CPSD.

This means that the current Ā SOESD PDHH classrooms hosted by CPSD will continue to serve MSD students Ā as well as other Ā students in the Rogue Valley whose IEP teams determine this model of service best meets the students’ needs.

MSD parents have received a letter directly from MSD Special Education Director Tania Tong on this matter, indicating the decision was based on several factors, with the most important one being that MSD wants students to remain Ā with a community in which they are experiencing success and belonging.

SOESD Special Education Director Susan Peck has followed up with a letter to all parents/guardians of students in SOESD’s PDHH classrooms located in CPSD to provide an update on MSD’s decision.

SOESD looks forward to continuing to serve students who are deaf or hard of hearing in our PDHH resource classrooms.

 

Summer Institute – Teacher Trainings

By News, Special Education

Join us for summer special education trainings!

SOESD is proud to announce its 4th annual Summer Institute for Special Educators during the weeks of August 12th and 19th.Ā  Our seminars will prepare participants for a Ā successful, positive start to the ā€™19-ā€™20 school year by teaching essential skills about setting up the right physical structure, visual strategies and functional communication systems in learning environments.Ā  ASHA and BACB credits are available for select classes. Ā Parents, Speech and Language Pathologists, Specialists, Mental Health and Social Service providers are welcome to join and learn from our internationally recognized PECS (Picture Exchange Communication System) and TCCS (Teaching Critical Communication Skills) guest presenter, Anne Overcash, from North Carolina.

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